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Ga. House bans gas chambers to euthanize pets

ATLANTA - The House approved a bill that would outlaw the use of gas chambers to euthanize pets at animal shelters in Georgia.

Under the bill - approved 115-46 on Tuesday - animals must be put to sleep through lethal injection.

The bill's sponsor, state Rep. Tom Knox, called gas chambers, which use carbon monoxide to euthanize pets, "pretty gory" and described how animals gasp for air as they die. The Republican from Cumming said lethal injection is more humane.

State Rep. Gene Maddox, a veterinarian from Cairo, argued against the bill saying for wild or feral animals who are not used to being handled by humans, carbon monoxide chambers are the most humane way to put an animal down.

Knox said only 10 or 11 counties still permit the use of gas chambers.